Tire buffing apparatus



Nov. 2,1943.v l.. E. TERRY' 2,333,599

TIRE BUFFING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 4, 1941 l 3 Sheefs-Sheet 2 PatentedNov. 2, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIRE BUFFING APPARATUS LutherE. Terry, Williamson, W. Va. Application August 4, 1941, Serial No.405,403

6 Claims. My invention relates to new and useful improvements inapparatus for removing the worn treads from tires.

An important object of my invention is the provision of a suitable standfor holding a tire supporting means adjustably associated with a bungtool, the tool being adjustably mounted to properly accommodate the tirein various adjusted positions.

Another object of my invention is the provision of an apparatus of theabove-mentioned character wherein separate means are provided foractuating the tire and bufiing tool, the arrangement being such that thetire will be rotated at a constant rate of speed in a direction opposedtothe direction of rotation of the buing tool to expedite the buiiingoperation and to assure uniform treatment of the surface of the tire.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of an apparatus ofthe above-mentioned character wherein the tire supporting means isangularly adjustable so that various portions of the surface of the tiremay be presented to the bufling tool, the arrangement being unique topermit the opposite sides of the tire to be uniformly treated whereby toassure a properly balanced tire after the buiiing operation has beencompleted.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent during thecourse of the following description.

In the drawings, forming a part of this specication, and wherein likenumerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a device embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of a tire supporting saddlecomprising a part of the invention.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 6 6of Figure 5.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration,is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral Illdesignates a supporting stand having a flat elongated top II. The standmay be constructed in any suitable manner and of any suitable material,it being solely provided to support a carriage I2 upon which a suitablebuiiing tool is mounted and a saddle I3 having tire supporting parts I4pivotally and rotatably associated therewith, the saddle being slidablymounted on the The carriage for the bufng tool comprises a pair of guiderods I5 and I6 mounted in spaced being xedly secured to the flanges I8and I9 upstanding from the said tcp. The guide rods are located at theextreme end of the stand and the top II at this end of the stand isformed with a laterally extending portion which supports the guide rodswhereby to position the same essentially laterally of the edge 20 of thetop. Mounted intermediate of and in spaced parallel relation with theguide rods I5 and I6 is a shaft 2I, which shaft extends substantiallybeyond the inner flange I9 and is journaled in the standard 22. Theportion of the shaft extending beyond the standard is provided with abevel gear 23 which meshes with the relatively smaller bevel gear 24mounted on the shaft 25 journaled for rotation in the standards 26 and21 located in spaced relation along the edge 28 of the top. The end ofthe shaft 25 remote from the gear 24 carries a hand Wheel 29 which isfixedly secured to the shaft so that actuation of the wheel will effectrotation of the shaft 25 and operate through the medium of the gears 23and 24 to rotate the right-angularly disposed shaft 2I.

The portion of the shaft 2I extending between the flanges I8 and I9 isscrew-threaded, as at 30, to receive the depending tabs 3I and 32 of Theopenings in the tabs receiving the threaded portion of the shaft arescrew-threaded so that rotation of the shaft will effect movement of thecarriage therealong. The carriage is also formed with depending vtabs 33at each of its four corners, which last-mentioned tabs slidably receivethe guide rods I 5l and I 6 for holding the carriage in an essentiallyhorizontal position at all times during its travel.

'I'he motor 34 is supported by the carriage and a buiiing wheel 35 isfixedly mounted on the drive shaft thereof. The wheel is of essentiallygreater diameter than the motor housing whereby to project substantiallybeyond thehous-` ing and beyond the adjacent edges of the laterallyolset portion of the top II. A suitable guard or shield 36 is mounted onthe motor housthe dust to a position As clearly shown in the drawings,the tire supporting saddle I3 is mounted adjacent the edge 31 of the topIl and remote from the edge I1 thereof. The saddle is provided withrectangularly arranged depending tabs which slidably receive the spacedparallel guide rods 39 and 40, the opposite ends of which guide rods aresupported by the upstanding flanges 4| and 42 carried by the top.direction at right angles to the guide rods i5 and AI6 so that shiftingof the saddle therealong will move the saddle toward and away from thebufling tool. A screw-threaded shaft 43 is su ported for rotation by theflanges 4I and 42 intermediate of and in spaced parallel relation withthe guide rods 39 and 40. The portion of the shaft 43 extending betweenthe flanges is screw-threaded for its entire length and isscrewthreadedly received within internally scre threaded openings in thedepending tabs 44 formed on the saddle. A hand wheel 45 is iixedlyattached to the end of the shaft 43 projecting beyond the flange 42whereby to permit the shaft to be manually rotated to eiect shifting ofthe saddle along the guide rods within limits dened by the supportingflanges.

The saddle has tire supporting parts mounted thereon which includes anarm 46, one end of which is welded or otherwise fixedly secured thereto.The other end of the arm projects substantially beyond the edge 20 ofthe top Il and is pivotally connected to the axle 41. As bestillustrated in Figure 3, the extending end of the arm is former with areduced portion 48 which is received between the bifurcations 49 for-medat one end of the axle and these interconnecting parts are providedvwith registering openings which receive the pivot pin 50.

The above arrangement permits the axle to rock about a vertical axis andthe degree of movement of the axle from a central neutral position isdetermined by an indicator means 5I. The indicator is here illustratedas comprising a. plate 52 fixedly mounted on the arm 46 adjacent theconnecting end of the axle and a pointer 53 xedly mounted on theconnecting end of the axle. The pointer extends in spaced relation abovethe plate and registers with the arcuately arranged equi-spaced degreemarkings 54 inscribed on the upper surface of the plate. When the axleis axially aligned with the arm, the pointer registers with the 0marking and when the axle is moved angularly in either direction fromthe 0 marking, the amount of the turning movement will be registered bythe markings at either side of the 0 mark.

I have provided means for holding the axle in a selected angularposition relative to the supporting arm, which means includes a pivotarm 55 attached to and extending laterally from the axle. A slotted linkarm 55 has one end pivotally connected to the distal end of the arm 55and a screw-threaded stud bolt 51 upstanding from the attached end ofthe arm 46 extends through the slot in the link whereby to restrictmovement of the link to within limits dened by the length of the slot. Amanually operable nut 58 is car- The guide rods extend in a` drive theconnection 66.

4of the flexible connection 66.

accessible. He may thus thereafter advancing `movement of the pivot arm55 whereby to angularly rock the axle 41 about its vertical axis.

A tire supporting rim 59 is mounted for rotation on the axle 41 and theperipheral face of the flange is suitably formed to securely hold a tire60 associated therewith. The inner surface of the tire supporting flangeis provided with an extending annular bead 6I on which a circular gear62 is ilxedly mounted.

In order that the tire may be made to rotate at a uniform rate of speed,I have mounted a motor 63 at the end of the saddle remote from the tiresupporting parts; A standard 64 is mounted on the saddle laterally ofthe motor for supporting the pulley 65 carried by one end The driveshaft of the motor is provided with a pulley 61 of essentially smallerdiameter than the vpulley 65 and an endless belt 68 encircles thepulleys 65 and 61 so that energization of the motor will The oppositeend of the connection is supported by a standard 69 upstanding from thepivoted end` of the axle 41 and the portion thereof extending beyond thesupporting standard carries a small pinion 10 which meshes with thecircular gear 62 carried by the tire supporting flange.

Attention is directed to the fact that both of the hand wheels 29 and 45extend from one end of the supporting stand. It will also be noted thatthe tire supporting saddle is mounted at this end of the stand and thatthe pivot arm 55 comprising an adjunct of the tire supporting partsextends in the direction of the hand wheels. This unique arrangementpermits the operator to position himself at the end 31 of the supportingstand and, when thus positioned, all of the controls of the device arereadily manually easily and expeditiously effect such adjustments as arenecessary in operating the device whereby to greatly expedite the entireoperation of bufilng the tire.

In operation, the tire to be buffed is mounted on the rim 59. A tube ofconventional construction is rst placed in the tire and, afterapplication of the tire to the rim, air under pressure is admitted intothe tube whereby to prevent the tire from buckling when the same isbrought into contact with the bufng tool. 'I'he conventional procedurein a recapping, semi-capping or retreading operation is to rst buff theperipheral surface of the tire and this is accompushed by positioningthe tire and tuning tool in ailgnment, as illustrated in Figure 1, and

the tire into touching relation with the builing tool. By rotating thehand wheel 29, the buil'lng tool may be properly aligned with the tireand by rotating the hand wheel 45, the tire may be moved into properassociation with the buiiing tool. The control switches for the motors34 and 63 are preferably located in positions readily accessible to theoperator and, if desired, these motors may be operated from a masterswitch. When the motors are energized, the motor 34 will rotate thebuflng tool'v the tire is made to rotate in a direction opposed to thedirection of rotation of the bufflng tool whereby to effect a maximumefliciency of operation. By assuring a proper concentric mounting of thetire with respect to the axle, the wheel will properly contact allportions of the tire and will remove any high spots or irregularities inthe surface thereof. When the tire is in the above-mentioned positionthe indicator pointer 53 will be in register with the 0 indicator mark.

'Ihe next operation is to buff the shoulders of the tire and this isaccomplished by loosening the nut 58 and sliding the link arm 56 alongthe stud bolt 51 until the pointer 53 indicates that the proper angularmovement has been made. Obviously this operation will move the portionof the tire adjacent to the bufling wheel substantially to one side ofthe neutral position. It will then be necessary to operate the handwheel 29 to again effect registration of the tool with the tire. Byreason of the fact that the tire is made to pivot about a central point,the periphery thereof will be made to swing in an arc and angularlypositioning of the tire will therefore move the periphery of the tireaway from the bufflng tool. This movement is compensated for byactuation of the hand wheel 45 to shift the saddle in the direction ofthe bufng tool. After one shoulder of the tire has been buffed, the tiremay be pivoted an equal number of degrees in the opposite direction tomove the other shoulder of the tire into register with the bufling tool.By tilting the tire an equal number of degrees at each side of theneutral position during bulng of the shoulders, a perfectly balanced anduniform bufiing of the tire is assured whereby to permit properapplication of the new tread. It will be readily apparent that, bymounting the standard 69 on the axle, the pinion 10 will move angularlywith the tire rim and that this angular adjustment of the pinion will bepermitted by the fiexible connection 56.

I prefer that the buffing wheel 35 be removably associated with thedrive shaft of the motor 34 so that various types of bufling devices maybe applied thereto to perform such separate operations on the tire asmay be necessary to complete the bufilng operation.

It is to be understood that the form f my invention, herewith shown anddescribed, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same. and thatvarious changes in the size, shape and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, or scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a tire buiiing apparatus, the combination of a support having abufling means, an axle adjustably mounted on said support for movementtoward and away from said bufiing means, a tire support rotatablymounted on said axle and comprising first and second plates, said firstplate having a hub rotatably mounted on the axle and abutting lthesecond plate to space thetwo plates, a peripheral flange on said firstplate engaging said second plate and so arranged as to provide a troughfor supporting the tire, means coacting With said axle to hold the firstand second plates in connected relationship, a drive means, a gear fixedto said first plate, and a gear means meshing with said rst mentionedgear and operatively connected with said drive means to impart rotationto the tire support.

2. The invention described in claim 1 wherein said drive means includesa fiexible shaft, and means pivotally connecting said axle with thesupport.

3. The invention described in claim 1 wherein` said axle is providedwith a radial arm for supporting said drive means and said gear means.

4. The invention described in claim 1 wherein said axle is pivotallyconnected with said support, an arm fixed to said axle, and a slottedbar means pivotally connected with said arm and adjustably connectedwith said support to shift the angular position of said tire supportWith respect to said buing means.

5. The invention described in claim 1 wherein an arm is fixed to andprojects laterally from said axle, a relatively fixed scale, a pointerfixed to said axle and coacting with said scale, said axle beingpivotally connected with said support,

and means acting on said arm for imparting pivotal movement to the axle,with said pointer.v indicating angular axle adjustment on said scale.

6. In a tire bufiing apparatus, the combination of a support having abufilng means, an axle adjustably mounted on said support for movementtoward and away from said bufiing means, a tire support rotatablymounted on said axle and comprising rst and second plates, said firstplate having a hub rotatably mounted on the axle and abutting saidsecond plate to space the first and second plates, a peripheral flangeon one of said plates engaging the other of said plates and so arrangedas to provide a trough for supporting the tire, means coacting with saidaxle to hold the first and second plates in connected relationship, adrive means, a gear fixed to one of said plates, and a second gearmeshing with said first mentioned gear and operatively connected withsaid drive means to impart rotation to said tire support.

. LUTHER E, TERRY.

